Lubudi 2012

Lubudiville congregation members in front the mound of bricks they prepared for construction, 2009

My first visit to Lubudi was in 1998. We were visiting churches in the district. (by bicycle, of course.) All of the visits had a cetain predictability. The worship was always uplifting, but the reports were always depressing. Those were very hard times. It's still hard here, but those years were particularly bad. The churches were all made of locally made, often unfired, bricks, sand for mortor, and grass roofs. A church building seemed to last no more 3 years before the rains took it down. There was no money, few cash jobs, and very little hope for change. The men asked for grain mills to make some money for the church. The women asked for sewing machines to make a little money for the church. The choir asked for keyboards (even if the community had no electricity.) With my limited Swahili, I was able to anticipate the content of every official report, dated and stamped, for the traveling missionary.

Lubudi was different. First of all, it was blessed with the district's only durable church building, built by missionaries back in the 1920's. Worship was uplifting, as well, including a delightful drama by the youth. The difference came at the reports times. These were uplifting reports, near bragging. Same problems, different response. True, the community had more available assets than the others, but even the others were failing to see what they had. The men of Lubudi were reporting their plans for a grain mill. They didn't have one yet, but they weren't asking for one, either. They had a plan. The women, the same. They had a plan for a foyer (an adult women's school) that included sewing machines. They had a plan. The choir, unfortunately, presented the old request list, including a request for robes. They received the Congolese equivilent of being booed. "We don't do it that way, anymore," they were told. I kept the report open for discussion, and before too long, a suggestion was made that the women of the foyer could make choir robes for the choir.

The most exciting report came from the construction committee. Their church building, even though it was of good construction, was too small for the size of the congregation, and furthermore, there were many people living on the other side of town who would like a church closer to where they lived. A plan for building a new church was presented. It was not to replace this church, but house a new congregation. That was the first time that I had heard about the new Lubudiville church.

Now, I'm looking at this dream church, almost finished. It's bigger than most, but not too big. It is important for this reason: The other "good" churches were built by missionaries in colonial times. This church was built by a new generation of Congolese leaders.

To be sure, we're still helping out on the fundraising side. This church will end up costing around another $30,000 to build, and the local community will provide much of that. It's important to get this building finished, as it is a sign to the congregation and the community of a new "can do" day.

Bob
Lubudi